Pile elevator



May 26, 1953 K. s. MACEY 2,639,917

PILE ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 31, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet l k INVENTOR. I

40 Ken-H .5. MncY- BY I fim fzfw Arm/was):

May 26, 1953 K. s. MACEY 2,

PILE ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 51, 1950 Y s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

KEITH 6. Macs y K. S. MACEY PILE ELEVATOR May 26, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. I51, 1950 INVENTOR. A 'l 7w 5. Mncay '1, Armemsys Patented May 26, 1953 PILE ELEVATOR Keith S. Macey, Parma Heights, Ohio, assignor to Macey Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 31, 1950, Serial No. 141,511

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvement in pile elevators, that is to say a mechanism for inter mittently raising a pile of sheets to maintain the level of the pile at a predetermined height in order that sheet. feeding mechanism may function properly. The mechanism is illustrated as applied to a sheet collator having a series of hoppers from which sheets are fed to a collecting conveyor.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a pile elevator which shall be of simple design and low cost and adapted particularly although not exclusively for use in sheet collators. Another object is the provision of an elevator for sheets in a hopper that is inclined somewhat away from the vertical toward the forward face of the hopper, having operating mechanism of such nature that it affords more or less continuous agitation tending to jog the sheets of the pile forward against the pile guides.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of that mbodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an endwise elevational view with the end casing of the machine removed to better i1- lustrate the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are vfragmental detail elevational and plan views illustrating yieldable fingers bearing upon the front top corners of the pile for assisting in the separation of sheets.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on a larger scale, the View being taken substantially on the line 5.5 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 6. is a detail sectional view taken su stantially on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

v Fig. 7 is .a fragmental side elevational view with parts in section of a block 58 and associated parts on a larger scale.

v Fig. 8 is a detail elevational view looking in the direction indicated by line 8-B of Fig. '7, and

Fig. 9 is a fragmental detail view looking in the direction of line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

The frame of the machine embodies a base i0 and end walls I I, and preferably has one or more intermediate walls parallel to the end walls and not shown in th drawings. The intermediate and end walls are joined by longitudinal members which may include a pair of braces [2 near the bottom of the machine, solid bars [3 and I4 and a tubular bar l5.

Shafts l6 and I1 extend the full length of the machine, having bearings in the end walls I I and preferably also in the intermediate walls. Shaft l6. turns continuously, one revolution for each machine cycle. In every cycle a sheet is fed from thetop of each pile of sheets onto a tray [8 which runslengthwise throught the machine, this tray having a longitudinal slot 19 through which a clamped to the oscillating shaft ll.

series of pins 20 extend. These pins, which are spaced apart the same distance as the hoppers, are mounted on an endless conveyor chain 2| which operates intermittently, being advanced after each feeding operation a distance equal to the distance between consecutive pins, whereby the sheets from the various hoppers are collected in stacks and delivered at the end of the upper run of chain travel.

Mounted on the base of the machine there is an electric motor H which drives a speed reducer 22 from which are driven two shafts 23 and 24. Shaft 24 carries a sprocket wheel which drives a chain 25 that extends upwardly and around a sprocket wheel on a short shaft 26 which is con- I centric with the sprocket wheel for conveyor chain 2|. Interposed between shaft 26 and the sprocket wheel for chain 2| there is a one revolu-' tion clutch which is automatically actuated once during each machine cycle for advancing the chain as previously described. Shaft 23 turns once for each machine cycle and carries a cam disk 21. Shaft 16 is driven from shaft 23 on a one to one ratio.

A plurality of upwardly extending arms 28 are In the free ends of these arms there is journ-aled a hollow shaft 29 which extends the length of the machine. This hollow shaft is closed at its ends and is subjected to vacuum by means of a flexible hose 3!! which communicates with the shaft near the middle thereof. The lower end of the hose connects with a vacuum pump, not herein shown. Shaft 29 opposite each hopper carries a pair of sucker supporting arms 3| having sucker heads 32 at their outer extremities which are connected with the hollow shaft 29 by flexible conductors 33. In order to permit adjustment of the degree of suction for the different paper piles individually there is provided opposite each hopper a fitting 34 to which the conductors 33 are connected, the fittingcarrying a needle valve 35.

The large disk 21 key-ed to shaft 23 carries two face cams, not shown, which operate linkage by means of which shaft H is oscillated to move hollow shaft 29 from the full line position of Fig. l to the dotted line position thereof and back again in each machine cycle. During this cycle hollow shaft 29 is oscillated in the arms 28 to raise and lower the sucker heads at the proper points in the cycle. The mechanism for accomplishing these movements per se forms no part of the present invention, and accordingly is not illustrated in detail. The pile elevating mechanism for maintaining the top of the pile at the proper level for cooperation with the sucker receive longitudinal bars heads during operation of the feeder will now be described.

The hopper for each pile comprises upper and lower side rails 31 and 38 which have holes to M and I5 and are clamped to those bars by screws 3?. and ill extending across slots formed in the rails between the ends thereof and the holes ior bars I 4 and is. These rails 31 and 38 support by means of suitable fastenings upright corner members 4| of the hopper which constitute guides for the front and side edges of the pile. At the rear of the pile the rails 3'! support short uprights #2 which are adjustable forwardly and backwardly to a limited extent. In these uprights there is mounted a rod 43 which supports a rear guide it that may be adjusted to a selected position along the length of the rod.

The tubular member 15 acts as an air blast manifold, being closed at one end and at the other end being connected by a conductor 45 with the outlet side of the air pump. At a point opposite each hopper a nipple 46 connects tubular member l with a hose l! which extends to the lower end of a pipe 48 that is supported in a block 59 which is adjustable along the tubular member i5. At its. upper and pipe 68- is provided with a slot 523 through which air is blown against the sheets at the top of the pile for sheet separating purposes.

52 is: a piate that is movable up and down be-- u tween and behind the corner members 4! of the hopper. Upon it may be placed a sheet 53, of heavy cardboard or the same size asv the sheets S of the pile. This plate is. securely mounted. on the upper end or a rack 54 which is. movable up and downin guidesv 5.5 and 56. "that are carried by a plate 51' which is bolted. to: one edge of a heavy plate or block 58. These blocks are provided with holes to receive the brace bar 13. Each block is slotted as at. 58: and a screw to is mounted in the block and extends transversely of the slot, being threaded at iii: in the block in order to clamp the latter firmly upon the brace bar. Alloi the blocks therefore are carried: by bar l3 and the pile supporting racks. in turn are carried by the individual blocks.

The shaft, lit extends through all of the blocks 53 and has: a supplemental bearing. in each. block. An eccentric; 53 mounted upon and; secured to shaft. I18;- a-djacent each block. 5:8.- as by means of. i

a set screw 6'4. Surrounding the eccentric near one end thereof there. is. a ring 65. The eccentric is. free to turn within the ring 5.5, but in order to (i3: underlies. washer "it which engages the lowersurface; at footv "It; and thus. transmits upward movement. of rod; $8= to; the feeler bar H. Theupper end of rod; 88 carries an adjustable nut 16 which backs. a washer that bears against the upper end. of a COlll spring 1?: surrounding the rod; the lower end.- of the spring bearing against a. flatLface on the upper side of a slidable washer T8 with; a: convex lower surface that, engages the foot. 1;!) around the periphery of hole 69'. Downward movement of pull: rod $8. therefore transmits; force to. foot 18' through the spring 'll, and it the; foot. is' not. free to descend the pull is absorbed by the spring.

Each block 5.8 carries a stub shaft 78- upon which is journaled. the hub 19 of an arm- 80' which projects: over eccentric t3. On this arm there is a projecting lug 8| which is disposed beneath the head on the. lower extremity of. a screw 82 which is adjustably threaded in a'tapped hole in foot 10 and held in adjusted position by a lock nut 83. The upper end of feeler bar 'H has a horizontal extension 84 which overhangs the pile of sheets S and is adapted to engage the top of the pile when downward force is transmitted to feeler bar H by the ring 65.

Each time a sheet is fed forward off the pile the feeler bar H descends and engages the pile. When the lowered height of the pile permits the ieeler bar to descend far enough, screw 82 acting through lug 8| swings arm downward about its pivot 18, the high point of the eccentric being then below shaft I6. 11 the downward swing of arm 80 is suiiicient a pawl- 85 pivotally mounted on the free end or the arm travels downwardly far enough to engage the next lower tooth on the toothed side of rack bar 54 As soon as the high point of the eccentric again comes uppermost a follower wheel 85 carried by arm 80 is lifted by the eccentric, thereby acting through pawl 85 to raise the rack a. distance equal to the distance between consecutive teeth on the rack. When this occurs; the upward movement of the rack causes a second pawl 861. which is pivoted to the block Sit to snap under the next tooth. of the rack and. support the latter. The upper ends: of pawls E5 and 8'! are pivotally connectedv with plungers 88- and 89 which extend through slots in. plate 5"! and are. biased outwardly by springs as bearing against: the heads ofthe plungers. The pawls are thus resiliently held: in. engagement with the toothed side oi the rack.

In order to assist in the: separation of the uppermost sheet of. the pile when it. is taken by the sucker heads 32 IV may mount at the two frontcormore of the. hopper resilient wirefi'ngers 92. When the sucker heads pull the top sheet out from under these fingers the fingers; tend to retain the next sheet on the pile and prevent it from adhering to the top sheet. Removable screws 93 projecting through loops on the fingers serve mount the fingers and readily permit the substitution of fingers of diir'erent characteristics in order to improve the sheet separating. action. and compensate for differences in paper stock.

' When it becomes necessary to replenish the sheets in a given. hopper: the operator may push in the plungers 88 and 89,. which permits the plate 52 to descend untilv a stop pin 94 on the rack engages the uppermost guide 55. The plungers. 88 and 89' are then released and the-pile is built upto the. desired. height. Then with the eccentric 53 turned to a position diametrically opposite to. that illustrated in the drawing the rack 54 may be pushed up by hand to cause the top of the pile to engage the feeler rod extension 84. With all of. the hoppersthus'filled suc-- tion. may be turned on in hollow shaft 29 and compressed air turned into tubular member i5; after which. motor 21 may bestarted and the operation of all feeders. begun; Directly after therear edge of the sheet being i'ed passesforward beyond the extension 84 of the feeler bar that bar is pulled down bythe eccentric ring; 65. If the stock being fed is light a considerable number of reciprocations of pull rod- 68 may result merely in the compression of spring H and" the depression of pawl 85' a distance insufli'ci'ent to enable it to snap under the next lower tooth of the rack. In each cycle the eccentric raises the follower 86'- slightl'y however and causes the. pawl 85 to push thoracic upwardly a distance less than the spacing of the teeth after which is descends until caught by the pawl 81. A constant slight jogging of the rack therefore takes place, which has a beneficial result in jarring the sheets S forward against the corner members 4| of the hopper to maintain an accurate pile.

As soon as the level of the pile descends sufficiently screw 82 acting through lug 8| on the swinging arm 80 depresses pawl 85 into engagement with the next lower tooth, and the next upward movement of the eccentric functions through follower 86 to raise the pawl 85 and push up the rack, the pawl 8! then snapping into position beneath a lower tooth of the rack and supporting it. The operation continues until the plate 52 has risen nearly tothe upper limit of its movement when the machine should be stopped and the pile of sheets replenished.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination a hopper plate for supporting a pile of sheets, a rack operatively connected with said hopper plate and adapted upon endwise travel to move the hopper plate up or down, ratchet teeth on one side of said rack, means for preventing retrograde travel of said rack. a support movable up and down in a direction generally parallel to said rack, a pawl on said support spring-pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack, a vertically reciprocable feeler bar the upper end of which on its down stroke is adapted to engage the top of the pile and the lower end of which is adapted to bear upon and depress said support, means for raising said feeler bar once for each cycle of the machine, and means effective during the up-stroke of the feeler bar to move said support upward, whereby a downward movement of the feeler bar of sufficient extent to depress the -pawl into engagement with the next lower tooth of the rack results in the raising of the rack during the upward movement of the feeler bar.

2. In combination, a hopper plate for supporting a pile of sheets, a lengthwise movable upstanding rack for supporting said hopper plate, ratchet teeth on one side of said rack, a pawl spring-pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack to hold it against downward travel, a pivoted arm swingable through a small arc tangent to the direction of travel of said rack, a pawl on said arm spring-pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack, a vertically reciprocable feeler bar the upper end of which on its down stroke is adapted to engage the top of the pile and the lower end of which is adapted to bear upon and depress said swingable arm, means for raising said feeler bar once for each cycle of the machine and means effective during the up-stroke of the feeler bar to swing said arm upward, whereby a downward movement of the feeler bar of sufficient extent to depress said arm supported pawl into engagement with the next lower tooth of the rack results in the raising of the rack during the upward movement of the feeler bar.

3. Pile elevating means as defined in claim 2, comprising endwise movable rods pivotally connected to said pawls and spring pressed to urge the pawls toward rack engaging position, said rods being manually movable to disengage the pawls from the rack and permit downward movement of said rack when the pile of sheets is to be replenished.

4. In combination, a hopper plate for supporting a pile of sheets, a lengthwise movable upstanding rack for supporting said hopper plate,

ratchet teeth on one side of said rack, a pawl spring-pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack to hold it against downward travel, a pivoted arm swingable through a small arc tangent to the direction of travel of said rack, a pawl on said arm spring-pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack, a feeler bar the upper end of which is adapted to engage the top of the pile and the lower end of which is adapted to depress said swingable arm, an eccentric disposed beneath said arm, means for rotating said eccentric, a ring surrounding said eccentric, a pull rod attached to said ring and connected to said feeler bar through a compression spring, whereby said spring is stressed during each rotation of said eccentric and said arm is depressed sufiiciently, when the height of the pile permits, to enable the pawl on the arm to engage the next lower tooth of the rack, said arm carrying a follower adapted to bear on said eccentric whereby said eccentric raises said feeler bar and said arm simultaneously to lift the pile while the feeler bar is rising.

5. Pile elevating means as defined in claim 4, comprising endwise movable rods pivotally connected to said pawls and spring pressed to urge the pawls toward rack engaging position, said rods being manually movable to disengage the pawls from the rack and permit downward movement of said rack when the pile is to be replenished.

6. In combination, a hopper plate for supporting a pile of sheets, a lengthwise movable upstanding ra-ck for supporting said hopper plate, ratchet teeth on one side of said rack, a pair of pawls each spring pressed into engagement with the toothed side of said rack, one of said pawls being mounted on a fixed pivot, a support for the second pawl movable up and down in a direction generally parallel to the said rack, a feeler bar the upper end of which overhangs the top of the pile and the lower end of which is adapted to engage and depress the support for said second pawl, means for moving said feeler bar up and down comprising a yieldable connection adapted to absorb downward thrust after said feeler bar engages the top of the pile, said feeler bar when the height of the pile permits depressing the support for said second pawl through the intermediacy of said yieldable connection far enough to cause the pawl to engage the next lower tooth of the rack, and cam means adapted to raise said movable pawl support during each upward travel of said feeler bar.

'7. A pile elevator as defined in claim 6, wherein said cam means is adapted to impart limited raising movement to said movable pawl support whether or not the downward movement of said feeler bar results in the engagement of a new tooth, whereby the pile of sheets on the hopper plate is subjected to jogging action in each machine cycle.

KEITH S. MACEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,063,140 Schmidt May 27, 1913 1,213,626 Greene Jan. 23, 1917 1,366,549 Winkley Jan. 25, 1921 2,081,958 Root June 1, 1937 2,237,026 Dietrich Apr. 1, 1941 2,300,657 Dudley Nov. 3, 1942 2,336,839 Blackstone Dec. 13, 1943 

